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Boulder's Don Campbell, transformative music expert and author of 'The Mozart Effect,' has died

By Amy Bounds Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
06/04/2012 09:11:18 PM MDT

Updated:
06/07/2012 10:06:31 AM MDT

Don Campbell
(Provided photo)

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had the incorrect address for St. John's Episcopal Church.

Don G. Campbell, of Boulder, an authority on the transformative power of music and author of 23 books, died Saturday from pancreatic cancer.

He was 65.

The American Music Research Center at the University of Colorado is creating the Don Campbell Collection to house his many books, videos, DVDs and documents, including the source material for "The Mozart Effect" and "Healing at the Speed of Sound." The collection also will include 200 private letters from his teacher, music pedagogue Nadia Boulanger.

His books "The Mozart Effect" and "The Mozart Effect for Children" were bestsellers and have been translated into 24 languages. The accompanying "Music for the Mozart Effect" recordings dominated the Billboard Classical charts for more than three years. He has written on music, health, education and creativity.

Friends said his singular life mission was to help return music to a central place in the modern world.

"Don spent much of his life bestowing gifts -- the gift of friendship, the gift of laughter and, more than anything, the gift of opening our hearts and minds to the transformative power of music," said Michael Butterman, music director of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. "I am grateful that his generous and life-affirming spirit will continue to animate our experience of the divine through the arts."

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Influential in the evolution of music therapy as a field of practice and study, Campbell founded the Institute of Music, Health and Education in Boulder in 1988 and lectured worldwide, serving as its director until 1997. He later served as director of the Sound and Music Institute at the New York Open Center.

"Don was an innovator in the field of therapeutic sound and music," said Wendy Young, current director of the New York institute. "As a teacher and leader of countless workshops and presentations in the USA and around the world, Don taught many of today's leading proponents in this field. Through their teaching and application of his vision, Don's legacy will continue to inspire future generations for many decades to come."

Campbell also was involved with Aesthetic Audio Systems, which worked with hospitals and other healthcare systems to design and install music systems to optimize healing.

He began his professional career as a music critic and teacher at St. Mary's International School in Tokyo. During the 1980s, he worked on the staff of Choristers Guild in Dallas, coordinating national and international choral music events.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, his love of music began with the United Methodist Church. He spent his teen years in Europe, studying classical music at the Fontainebleau Conservatory in France.

A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. June 13 at St. John's Episcopal Church, 1419 Pine St., Boulder.

Donations may be made to the Don Campbell Fund, payable to the CU Foundation, at the American Music Research Center, University of Colorado College of Music, 301 UCB, Boulder, 80309.

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